Wednesday, November 12, 2014

A picture for you, Rams & Yowes in
action in England. My guess is that they're safely back in DC by now:

I had fun copying that one into both my
Family14>Ted folder and also into Knitting. It is only the second
thing I have finished this year, the other being the Milano/Relax3
for Greek Helen. Maybe I'd better polish off those Pakokku socks
before the bells ring on December 31.

And I'd also better get back to the Unst
Bridal Shawl. The wedding planners need to know how big it is. I hope
it's not going to be too much of a disappointment, after the Princess
and her successful outing. It's pretty minor, by comparison. Rachel
is moving into mother-of-the-bride mode – Hellie and Matt are to be
married on September 19, 2015 (insh'Allah) – that's any moment now.

Meanwhile Archie's sweater moves
laboriously forward. I think I'm in position to finish off the raglan
increases today. There's still one more buttonhole to add to the
placket. I wonder whether something will have to be done to emphasize
the buttonholes? They are formed with simple yo, k2tog's and they totally
disappear into the ribbing. But on the other hand, they aren't going
to be much used. The sweater will presumably be worn with (say) four
buttons buttoned and the other two open at the top. Maybe emphasis
won't be needed.

The Meadow Yarn order didn't turn up
yesterday, although it was dispatched first class on Monday. My
husband always says that first class is a waste of money. It's a lot
of money, too – I could have cooked a delicious and nourishing meal
for two, in my early married years, for what a first class stamp
costs now.

Archie himself has an exeat this
weekend – they seem constant. As I am fond of remarking, the more
you pay for education, the less of it you get. But he is going south
to his other grandmother where he will have aunts and uncles and
cousins about, preferable to bad-tempered gloom in Drummond Place. I
hope we will see him soon, and at the worst I ought to be able to
drive him to the airport for the Christmas holiday in December, and
squeeze in a fitting before we set out.

Carol Sunday has a wonderful new
pattern called
“Shakespeare in Love” – cables all over the place, as they
seem to be this season, and an uneven hemline to boot. Alas, life is
too short to allow one to knit more than about 1/10th (at
a generous estimate) of the things one would like to knit.

Zite – the Mail Online has
a video clip (in Serbian) in which a journalist visits some
farmers who are knitting willy warmers for themselves. The journalist
models one. The video is very modest, and even pixilated at the vital
moment so you don't need to worry.

How wonderful to see the blankie in action and a one-year-old eating an apple.

The post on the Serbian farmers is delightful but it took me a little while to figure out how it would be worn - the reporter was right to give a demonstration. I was thinking about what to knit (somewhat belatedly) for this year's Christmas Fair. Would those wooly warmers be a better choice than knitted egg cozies I wonder?

The Shakespeare in Love is also wonderful - I haven't come across Carol Sunday before - will now spend a happy half hour looking at her on Ravelry.